What do you get when a grifter, a hitter, a hacker, and a thief set their sights on righting wrongs and bringing justice to the deserving? You get Leverage.
This month, Eve and I return to the small screen and the world and characters of the Leverage franchise to take a closer look at their first season’s eleventh episode, “The Jackal Job.”
FreeVee has resurrected the original TNT series as Leverage: Redemption. Many of the original stars are back, but in the canon of the original show, the team has franchised out and has groups worldwide seeking to help those in need. In the original, Aldis Hodge played Alec Hardison, the hacker. He is now in charge of the global Leverage company and usually off doing his own thing. Still, his foster sister had stepped into his role with his original teammates, except for Nathan Ford, who died of cancer before the new series began.
“The Jackal Job” touches on a couple of serious topics, such as elder abuse and Alzheimer’s, but also includes, in a 3rd act twist, an LGBTQ+ plot device with commentary. Unfortunately, when all is said and done, like much of secular media, it means to couch “good” morals in an entertaining story but misses the mark.
The music in Leverage: Redemption is smartly composed by Joseph LoDuca. It could be more outstanding in its field, but it does a decent job of supplementing the show’s storytelling.
Initial Thoughts
December was a tough month for us to come up with choices. There was a reasonably good field of options, but we could not make them work for one reason or another. On top of that, I had surgery on my foot at the beginning of the month that limited my mobility a fair amount (but less than my podiatrist wished it would have!) Both Eve and I had watched and enjoyed the original Leverage series. I’d tried the revival of Leverage back when it premiered about a year ago but decided to shelve it on my “to watch on a rainy day” shelf. However, after discussing Aldis Hodge as Hawkman in last month’s review of Black Adam, Eve decided to check out Leverage: Redemption to get more of Hodge’s smoldering looks (and admittedly solid acting!) While watching, she came across “The Jackal Job,” an episode with pretty solid discussion potential.
The original Leverage did an excellent job of establishing the characters and then allowing them to grow from a single dimension into fully fleshed, sympathetic heroes in their own right. While the show could have stood on more solid ground from the standpoint of the Christian worldview, it tried to keep the stories’ morals stable.
Leverage: Redemption has embraced the morals of the post-truth world. The opening dialog of the episode is an example of this. Team lead, grifter Sophie, lectures hacker Breanna on why she is being forced to do community service. The lecture isn’t about how stealing is wrong unless there is no other option (a la Robin Hood) but instead because she got caught stealing.
One last comment from me: The writing of television shows has changed significantly over the previous several decades. More “modern” shows have a level of logical continuity that I find much more enjoyable than the haphazard storytelling shorthand that asks the viewers to accept leaps of logic as a storytelling shorthand. That thing was so much more common in the 1980s, at least from my perspective. Leverage: Redemption (and the original, for that matter) are much more in the latter category than the former. That’s okay, though, because that’s their style. I mention it here because this particular episode used a great deal of this shorthand—almost too much. Where they had several paths open, they threw out a near-senseless justification for the option they chose, then went where the plot demanded. It’s like watching a stage magician; you may still enjoy the show when you can see how the magician does his tricks, but it has still lost the magic. Leverage: Redemption is still enjoyable, but better writing could bring much more magic.
Role Models, Inspirations, and the Means to an End
The initial dialog highlights one of the main problems with the concept of Leverage: Redemption. Sophie should have lectured on how stealing is wrong, but instead, she talked about stealing without proper planning. This lecture would have been more acceptable in the early seasons of the original show because the main characters were all at the very start of their paths to redemption. You expect them to need more moral clarity. Maybe it is too early in the series to see the eventual justification, but alone, the lecture seems off. Not only that, but it contradicts much of the growth we saw in Sophie’s character in Leverage.
Both shows, however, use sketchy methods to accomplish worthy goals. They believe that “the ends justify the means.” There are Christians (and “Christians”) out there who claim they can use Scripture to back up this philosophy. Some point to the story of Rahab and the two spies from Joshua 2. In it, Rahab lies to the King of Jericho regarding the location of the Israeli spies. Was that lie a sin? If so, why is Rahab included in the line of Christ or listed in Hebrews as a hero of the faith?
David was a man after God’s own heart but frequently sinned. The fact that men and women recorded in Scripture sin is not an endorsement of that sin; it is an encouragement for us.
But if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what are we to say? I am using a human argument: Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath? Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world? But if by my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, “Let us do what is evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved! (Romans 3:5-8)
Paul acknowledges that we are all sinners, but God’s truth abounds in His glory—even in our sins, we can bring glory to God. This is not an easy moral question, and it is one that we will face more and more often. It comes down to this: God knows the motivations of our hearts, and by these, He will judge us.
Regarding role models, it is essential to remember the importance of choosing the right one. Our role models’ behavior will help to shape our behavior.
Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Social Justice Issue of the Week #1: Abuse of Adult Guardianship
As Eve mentioned, we see more social commentary in Leverage: Redemption than in the original. Thankfully, that doesn’t always mean progressive social issues. For example, in “The Jackal Job,” the primary evil of the episode is the abuse of adult guardianship programs. This is a very real, very serious problem. However, such abuse is a much larger problem stemming from a lack of honor for our elders and the cherishing of life. For example, in Canada, when Christine Gauthier requested financial help with the installation of a chairlift, a caseworker from Veterans Affairs Canada instead offered the opportunity for a medically assisted death.
In this episode, the court assigns Stella, who is losing a battle with Alzheimer’s, a guardian who knows nothing about her and cares nothing for her. To many guardians, it is a job and nothing more. In the hyperbole of the episode, the two evildoers are very clearly, well, evildoers, but it is rarely so cut and dry. Like the foster system, many caregivers are overwhelmed and doing their best. When those seeking to benefit from their wards’ misery appear before the court, proving malice is nearly impossible.
Caring for those who cannot care for themselves is something of which we, as Christians, should be particularly mindful. James tells us that the way we handle such care is a sign of our faith:
Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)
When Paul and Silas encountered the possessed slave girl being used to predict the future, Paul cast the spirit out. As a result, they made enemies with the people who were profiting from the girl’s predictions:
Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She made a significant profit for her owners by fortune-telling. As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.” She did this for many days. Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away. When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. (Acts 16:16-19)
Social Justice Issue of the Week #2: LGBTQ+ Rights
As an evangelical Christian podcast, this issue is “the elephant in the room.” But, over the episode, you learn that the woman the team is seeking help had a lesbian lover around whom the plot revolves. This twist felt like nothing more than a nod to identity culture. The fact that the mark that Stella fell in love with was a woman had no bearing on the plot at all. The lesbian relationship seems present only to show how intolerant people were “back then.” They even used the lesbian relationship to suggest that the English mobster could win custody of their daughter.
As Christians, we cannot hold LGBTQ+ behavior against people, but what we find frustrating is the constant attacks by the LGBTQ+ lobby. In almost all cases, it seems like the lobby attacks a biblically oriented stand as a combination of hate and fear, when neither is actually the case.
Social Justice Issue of the Week #3: Alzheimer’s
The final issue isn’t social justice as much as it is an issue that we are almost all faced with at one time in our lives. By 2050, the number of people aged 65 and older with Alzheimer’s dementia will reach 12.7 million. Alzheimer’s disease was officially listed as the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States in 2019. When someone has Alzheimer’s, they slowly become a different, usually challenging, person. They can become suddenly, inexplicably furious. This attitude may seem narrow-minded, but there is no human condition more symbolic of the terrible weight of sin on creation than adult dementia. The incredible, deep pains it causes to the afflicted and their caregivers are nearly incomparable to anything else in our experience.
Our Aging Responsibilities
Our last thoughts from the episodes are that the story reminds us that we are responsible for the people we leave behind. We should be doing everything we can to prevent our illness or passing from burdening those who loved us in this life. It’s easy to put off—after all; I won’t die tonight, right?
Right?
…?
Are You Just Watching? is listener supported. Special thanks to our current patrons: Isaias Santillano, Craig Hardee, Stephen Brown II, David Lefton, and Peter Chapman for their generous support. We can't continue to share critical thinking for the entertained Christian without your financial help, so please head on over to our Patreon page and become one of our supporting patrons! What did you think of Leverage: Redemption, S1E11, The Jackal Job? We would like to know, even if just your reactions to the trailer or the topics we shared in this episode. Or what general critical-thinking and entertainment thoughts or questions do you have? Would you like to suggest a movie or TV show for us to give a Christian movie review with critical thinking?Please support the podcast!
Share your feedback!
Please connect with us
